Hobby Master 1/72 Ground Power Series
HG3502
British Centurion Mk.5, 10 Troop
C Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment
West Berlin, August 22, 1961, "Diehard"
THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION
PICTURES, NOT THE FINAL PRODUCT
Authentic Detailing
Pre-Painted by
professionals
Accurate paint colors
Markings Tampo (pad)
applied
Fully Assembled
Die-Cast Model
True to Scale (1:72)
Weathering and insignias
Turret turns
Metal turret and main gun
Realistic tracks
The Centurion entered British service in 1949 and when production ended in 1962 there
had been over 4,000 vehicles of all variants produced. Approximately half of the
production where exported. The Centurion was a great advancement in British tank
design with them using some of the best features from other tanks around the world.
The Centurion was the first main battle tank in the world to use both elevation and
azimuth gun stabilization in the main gun. All Centurions had welded steel hulls and cast
turrets with welded steel plates for the roof. There were about 25 different variants of
the Centurion with each improving on the one before. The Mk. 5 used the same 20
pounder main gun as the Mk. 3, there was no Mk. 4 produced, but most had a “Type B”
barrel with a fume extractor half way down the barrel. This got rid of fume low back into
the turret and also eliminated the need for the counter weight used on the “Type A”
barrel. The Mk. 5 replaced the coaxial Besa with an M1919A4 .30 cal Browning MG and
a second .30 cal MG mounted on the Commander’s cupola. The switch to the .30 cal
MG was to meet NATO’s standardization policy. The turret rear escape hatch was
eliminated. A fifth return roller was added on both sides to help prevent throwing a track.
By the late 1950’s most of the problems with the Centurion were eliminated except for its
slow speed and the use of gasoline as the fuel. In 1967 the Centurion was starting to be
replaced by the Chieftain.

The 4th Royal Tank Regiment was in the British sector of West Berlin to provide
armored support for the 3000 British infantry stationed there. Since 1945 and with the
division of Berlin the US, France and England administer sectors of West Berlin and
station armed forces there as a deterrent Soviet aggression. On August 22, 1961 the
British 4th Royal Tank Regiment was one of the military units stationed there. This is the
day of the first casualty of the crisis when a woman fell to her death from a window while
trying to escape to the West.
Tensions mounted and one of the British tanks standing ready for any action was the
Centurion Mk. 5 of 10 Troop, C Squadron, commanded by Sgt. “Jake” Jacobs. His tank
had several distinguishing features. First the main gun had a “Type A” barrel when most
Mk.5’s had a “Type B”. The paint color of overall US Olive Drab was very unusual for a
British tank in Berlin at this time. Keeping with 4th RTR tradition of using the letter “D” to
name their tanks “Diehard” is painted on the track guard stowage bins. Keeping with
another tradition started in WWI when a Chinese businessman covered the cost to have
a tank built, there is a “Chinese Eye” painted on the front face of the turret stowage bins.


Specifications Centurion Mk. 5 MBT

Manufacturer: Vickers

Production period: 1955 -1958

Number produced: 221

Crew: four

Dimensions
Length: Hull only - 24 ft 9.5 in  (7.55 m)
Length: Hull and gun - 32.33 ft   (9.85 m)
Width: 11.12 ft   (3.39 m)
Height: 9.87 ft   (3.00 m)
Combat weight: 111,966 lb

Power plant
Engine: Rolls-Royce Mk IVB 12-cylinder liquid-cooled petrol producing 650hp at 2550rpm
Fuel capacity: 273.9 US gal  (1,037 l)    
Range: 118 miles  (190 km)
Maximum speed: 21.12 mph   (34 km/h)

Armour: 17mm – 152 mm

Armament
Primary:
Quick firing 20 pounder (83.4 mm) main gun  64 rounds
Secondary:
0.30 in Browning MG  belt fed, air-cooled. ROF 425-450 rounds/minute
0.30 in Browning MG  belt fed, air-cooled. ROF 425-450 rounds/minute  (commander’s
cupola)
2 x 6 smoke grenade dischargers
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